[The effect of the intracellular level of free iron on cell proliferation in culture].

Dependence of changes in the intracellular free iron content upon cellular proliferation has been studied on mammalian cells in vitro. It has been established that picolic acid (PA)--a natural metal chelating agent of variable valency--inhibits the proliferation of cultivated pig embryo kidney cells (SPEV). Simultaneously the free iron quantity was decreased 2-fold as compared with the norm. PA block was removed by substituting PA-containing cultivated media for the PA-free one. It was accompanied by complete recovery of the free iron quantity in the cells. The regulation of cell proliferation is likely to correlate with the intracellular free iron content.